RWANDA
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
BEP4108: SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION
STUDENTS SYLLABUS
LECTURER: MPORANANAYO Noel
April 2019
Content
- Meaning and importance of Sociology of Education
- Origin and development of sociology and sociology of education
- Relation of sociology with education
- Relations of sociology and other social sciences
- Branches of Sociology
- Sociological Theories
- Socialization as a process
- Role of the family and school as socializing agents
- Role of politics and nation and their relations to sociology of education
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1. MEANING AND IMPORTANCE OF SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION
1.1.
Introduction
In our life, we get everyday challenges. To find solutions for those challenges, we learn basing
on their effects and try to overcome them. We meet new friends; we acquire new actions from
them. We talk to parents or relatives, we gain something new. That how we learn, how we get
educated. Any individual can learn very little by himself. Others play a very important role and
contribute a lot to his learning process. The presence of other persons is important because a
person learns from the knowledge gained by others. Therefore the process of getting education is
always a social process.
1.2.
Meaning of Sociology
Sociology is a social science that studies society and the individual in perspective of Society.
Sociology can be defined as the study of man and his environment in their relation
with each other.
The word Sociology is derived from the combination of the Latin socius – meaning “companion”
and the Greek logos - meaning “the study of”. So the word literally means the study of
companionship, or social relations. It is the science or study of the origin, development,
organization, and functioning of human society. Sociology as a field of discipline is generic and
umbrella in nature as it deals with the totality of human interaction and examination. It is a
systematic study of social behaviours and human groups. It investigates primarily the influence
of social relationships on people’s attitudes and behaviours and on how societies are established
and changed. To a lay man, sociology is the study of man’s interaction within the society but it
extends beyond that as it deals with the organization and control of man’s behaviours and
attitudes within the society. As a field of study, sociology has an extremely broad scope because
the society comprises of several sub systems with inherent fragmentations of component parts in
each of them for sociological considerations.
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Sociology is concerned about social facts in the economy, education, legal, security, politics,
medical, religion, family, technology, sports and so on. Within the province of these sub-systems
both the structural aspects of human society and every type of social relationship are being
examined.
Sociology grew out of the social, political, economic, and technological revolutions of the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. For example, the Industrial Revolution that took place from
1760 up to 1850 , had tremendously changed old traditions and necessitated new ways of
perceiving and examining the social world, thus in the mid-1800s sociology emerged in Western
Europe as a distinct discipline.
1.3.
Meaning of Education
In its broad sense, “education refers to any act or experience that has formative effect on the
mind, character, or physical ability of an individual ... In its technical sense, education is the
process by which society, through schools, colleges, universities, and other institutions,
deliberately transmits its cultural heritage - its accumulated knowledge, values, and skills - from
one generation to another”.
Using the term education as defined in the technical sense, makes us limit our thought to the
context of teachers instructing students. Teachers will need to understand a particular subject or
subjects to convey its knowledge to students, which with the passing of knowledge allow
students to grow into useful members of society. Based on the Article 13 of the United Nations
International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights of 1966, the right of
educationist considered as a basic human right.
However, education is a broad concept, referring to all experiences in which students can learn
something:
a) Instruction: refers to the intentional facilitation of learning toward identified goals,
delivered either by an instructor or other forms;
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b) Teaching refers to the actions of a real live instructor designed to impart
learning to the student; and
c) Training refers to learning with a view toward preparing learners with specific
knowledge, skills, or abilities that can be applied immediately upon completion.
Globally, education can be divided into three mainstreams:
Primary or elementary education
This is the first few years of formal learning. Generally, six or seven years of schooling starting
at the age of five or six years old. This varies according to countries.
Secondary education
This Consists of the second years of formal education that occurs during adolescence or the
teenage years of an individual. The purpose of secondary education can be to give common
knowledge, to prepare for higher education, or to train directly students in a profession.
Higher / tertiary education
As the third stage of education that follows after the completion of secondary education. It
normally includes undergraduate and postgraduate education, as well as vocational education and
training and results in the receipt of certificates, diplomas, or academic degrees. For many,
education is understood to be a means of overcoming handicaps, achieving greater equality and
acquiring wealth and status for all by developing every individual to their fullest potential
(Sargent, 1994). Students can be motivated by giving them aspirations for progress and a better
life. Therefore, education is perceived as a place where children can develop according to their
unique needs and potentialities (Schofield, 1999).
In Sociology, education can be simply explained as an activity which goes on in a society where
its aims and methods depend on the nature of the society in which it takes place. It is to make an
individual understand the new society growing up around him of which he is an essential
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member. Education in the specific term is a means of making individuals understand their
society.
1.4.
Sociology of Education
Sociology of Education may be defined as the scientific analysis of the social processes and
social patterns involved in the educational system. Brookover and Gottlieb consider that ―this
assumes education is a combination of social acts and that sociology is an analysis of human
interaction. Educational process goes on in a formal as well as in informal situations.
Sociological analysis of the human interaction in education may include both situations and
might lead to the development of scientific generalizations of human relations in the educational
system.
The sociology of education is the study of how public institutions and individual experiences
affect education and its outcomes. It is most concerned with the public schooling systems of
modern industrial societies, including the expansion of higher, further, adult, and continuing
education. It is a philosophical as well as a sociological concept, denoting ideologies, curricula,
and pedagogical techniques of the inculcation and management of knowledge and the social
reproduction of personalities and cultures.
It is concerned with the relationships, activities and reactions of the teachers and students in the
classroom. It emphasizes sociological problems in the realm of education.
1.5.
Relationship between Education and Sociology
Emile Durkheim was the first person who indicated the need for a sociological approach to
education. He considered education ―to be essentially social in character and in its
functions and that as a result the theory of education relates more clearly to sociology than
any other science. He emphasized that education is not a static phenomenon but a dynamic and
ever-changing process. Educational sociology is by definition a discipline which studies
education sociologically, with the premise that it recognizes education as a social fact, a process
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and an institution, having a social function and being determined socially. Educational sociology
could appear only when it accepted the social nature of education.
1.6.
Importance of Sociology of Education
Every society has its own changing socio – cultural needs and requires an education to meet
these needs. Today‘s needs are conservation of resources, environmental protection, global
citizenship etc. Therefore education caters towards meeting of these different needs. Since the
needs of the society change education also changes. Hence there is need for
studying sociology of education. It helps in understanding:
1. Work of School and Teachers and its relation to society, social progress and development
2. Effect of Social Elements on the working of school and society
3. Effect of Social Elements on the life of individuals
4. Construction of Curriculum in relation to the cultural and economic needs of the society
5. Democratic ideologies present in different countries
6. Need for understanding and promoting international culture
7. Development of Society through the formulation of various rules and regulations and
understanding of culture and traditions
8. Need for Promotion of Social Adjustment
9. The effect of social groups, their interrelation and dynamics on individuals.
Sociology helps in the process of education in several ways. One way is that sociology
represents education. The study of how people and societies interact within one another and
themselves is, in part, the essence of education. The process of teaching and learning is a social
process- teacher and students, students with one another, both with people outside of the
classroom and bringing those experiences into the classroom setting- are all examples of how our
social interactions impact our learning. Effective teaching and learning is not an isolated
process. Students enter the classroom with their own senses of reality, experience, and
narratives and teachers have to acknowledge and integrate this into the classroom setting and the
learning process. The notion of students entering a classroom and divorcing it from their own
social experiences is not an effective paradigm in the modern setting. Perhaps, this is because
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students have greater interactions on a social level with the proliferation of information
technology and socially interactive networking. They bring this cultural capital into the
classroom and teachers have to strive to understand this sociological element into the process of
teaching and learning.
Additionally, students' backgrounds demand that teachers
comprehend how different societies interact within one other in order to maximize
learning. The heterogeneous classroom is one predicated upon different modes of social
interaction, and a teachers' understanding of this sociological component could be a defining in
determining success or failure in the reciprocal process of teaching and learning.
2. ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY OF
EDUCATION
2.1.
The Origins of Sociology
Sociologists believe that our social surroundings influence thought and action. For example, the
rise of the social sciences developed in response to social changes. In the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, Europeans were exploring the world and voyagers returned from Asia,
the Americas, Africa, and the South Seas with amazing stories of other societies and
civilizations. Widely different social practices challenged the view that European life reflected
the natural order of God.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Western Europe was rocked by technical, economic,
and social changes that forever changed the social order. Science and technology were
developing rapidly. James Watt invented the steam engine in 1769, and in 1865 Joseph Lister
discovered that an antiseptic barrier could be placed between a wound and germs in the
atmosphere to inhibit infection. These and other scientific developments spurred social changes
and offered hope that scientific methods might help explain the social as well as the natural
world. This trend was part of a more general growth in rationalism.
The industrial revolution began in Britain in the late eighteenth century. By the late nineteenth
century, the old order was collapsing “under the twin blows of industrialism and revolutionary
democracy” (Nisbet, 1966: 21). Mechanical industry was growing, and thousands of people
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were migrating to cities to work in the new factories. People once rooted in the land and social
communities where they farmed found themselves crowded into cities. The traditional authority
of the church, the village, and the family were being undermined by impersonal factory and city
life.
2.2.
Origins and development of Sociology of Education
In the recent years education has become the major interest to some sociologists. As a result a
new branch of sociology called “sociology of education” has become established. Émile
Durkheim (1895) conceived education as the socialization of the younger generation, which is a
continuous effort to impose on the child ways of seeing, feeling and acting which he could not
have arrived at spontaneously. Thus, formal education is primarily designed to inculcate crucial
skills and values central to the survival of the society or to those who hold effective power.
Systematic sociology of education began with the work of Émile Durkheim (1858-1917) on
moral education as a basis for organic solidarity, and with studies by Max Weber (1864-1920) on
the Chinese literati as an instrument of political control. After World War II, however, the
subject received renewed interest around the world: from technological functionalism in the US,
egalitarian reform of opportunity in Europe, and human-capital theory in economics. These all
implied that, with industrialization, the need for a technologically skilled labour force
undermines class distinctions and other ascriptive systems of stratification, and that education
promotes social mobility. However, statistical and field research across numerous societies
showed a persistent link between an individual's social class and achievement, and suggested that
education could only achieve limited social mobility. Sociological studies showed how schooling
patterns reflected, rather than challenged, class stratification and racial and sexual
discrimination. After the general collapse of functionalism from the late 1960s onwards, the idea
of education as an unmitigated good was even more profoundly challenged. Neo-Marxists
argued that school education simply produced a docile labour force essential to late-capitalist
class relations.
Durkheim (1858–1917), credited as the father of sociology, has undoubtedly shaped the minds of
all scholars who consider themselves sociologists. Whether one ascribes to Durkheim’s
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functionalist perspective of society, vociferously critiques this work, or chooses to set the work
aside altogether, it has an undeniable presence in all of our lives. Several of the intellectual
selfportraits that follow specifically discuss the way that Durkheim’s work has shaped their
intellectual journeys, and a number of the authors even list one of Durkheim’s pieces of writing
as one of the most influential works they have read. Gerard Postiglione devotes a good deal of
attention to a discussion of how he brought the canonical work of western thinkers, including
Durkheim, to his Chinese audience. When discussing the act of bringing Durkheim to Chinese
audiences, Postiglione writes,
“The aim for most Chinese scholars at the time was to construct the field with Chinese
distinctiveness while keeping abreast of the international mainstream of the field. The
field had to be established under “Marxism and Chinese realities.” There were also
critiques of Durkheim, which were interesting to me since Durkheim resonated in some
ways with Confucian discourse and contemporary party dictum on social harmony.”
While likely unsurprising to this audience, many of the current leaders in the sociology of
education, similar to the audience that Postiglione encountered in China, have offered deep
criticisms of Durkheim’s functionalism. Many of these critiques are rooted in the work of two
other thinkers credited with providing a foundation for the sociology of education: Karl Marx
(1818–1883) and Max Weber (1864–1920).
A portion of Hugh Mehan’s intellectual self-portrait looks to identify the roots of the sociology
of education. In seeking an understanding of the inspiration for this academic field, Mehan
writes,
“Marx, Weber, and Durkheim (the “founding fathers” or “holy trinity” of sociology),
each in their own way, was driven by an appraisal of and attempt to remedy the malaise
engendered by modernity: alienation, inequality, hyperrationality, domination,
anomie.”
The two phrases—“founding fathers” and “holy trinity”—that Wexler uses to describe
Durkheim, Marx, and Weber clearly resonate with many of the other current leaders in the
sociology of education. Although Durkheim’s omnipresent position in the sociology of education
is hard to deny, the current leaders in the sociology of education place a far greater emphasis on
the inspiration they have found in Marx and Weber. Steven Brint writes,
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“Reading Max Weber was the decisive intellectual experience of my life.” Philip
Wexler notes that his reading of Marx became unmeshed with his day-to-day living at
an early age.”
He writes,
“I read a lot, from an early age, and by high school, I was moving around
intellectually, between Marx and Nietzsche. But, it was not just books. Rebellion, in
daily life and in art, was already displacing indifference and what we learned to call
“conformity” … To have a reflexive critical stance toward whatever was going on,
whatever was being taken for granted as natural and better, was something I seemed
to have imbibed early on, and which I brought to the intellectual work that has drawn
my attention for so long.”
The inspiration for many of the current leaders in the sociology of education did not always
come directly from Marx and Weber, but rather it came from Marxist and Weberian traditions.
Many of the current leaders in the sociology of education came of age in a period of time when
the works of Bowles and Gintis and Coleman were gaining prominence. All three of these
scholars brought a heightened attention to conflict theory and the inequalities defining the
modern education system. Lois Weis writes,
“Putting forth their well-known “correspondence principle,” Bowles and Gintis argue
that schools directly reproduce social and economic inequalities embedded in the
capitalist economy… [Their] neo-Marxist sensibilities critique the capitalist economy
as the driving force behind the “need” for profit and domination as in conflict with
the political economy that promotes democracy and equality. This conflict plays out in
classrooms where students are marked by a larger and highly stratified economic
structure, and this notion of stratified social structures and the relationship between
such structures and educational institutions became the centerpiece of my own
thinking on this subject for many years hence.”
Weis shares this source of inspiration with a number of the other current leaders in the sociology
of education. Whether or not the current leaders in the sociology of education found Bowles and
Gintis’ arguments to be compelling, they all undeniably came to operate in a field guided by
these ideas. As Brint notes, “The weight of sociological work at this time was on the
reproduction of class, racial-ethnic and gender privileges through schooling.”
These themes of social reproduction and inequality were given particular emphasis through the
work of James Coleman. Not only did Coleman inspire many of the current leaders in the
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sociology of education to ask questions about inequality and education, but his work also led to a
heightened focus on empiricism in the field. In Barbara Schneider’s intellectual self-portrait, she
writes,
“Reading the work of James Coleman… about how to determine which interventions
were actually creating a “true” effect, my thoughts of becoming a teacher educator
were soon replaced by a strong desire to learn more about how relationships, power,
authority, roles, responsibilities, and moral imperatives affect human behavior and
shape the institutional systems they inhabit.”
Schneider goes on discuss the ways in which this work inspired a career of searching for
empirical evidence to support theoretical constructs in the sociology of education.
“It was the possibility that high quality evidence could be used to explain social
phenomena that motivated my interest and research studies in exploring new ideas for
data collection and analytic methods that measured a true effect and others that
approximated causal inference.”
Many of the sociologists of education in this volume came of age during the battle between the
old and new sociologists of education in Britain and France. With the publication of Michael
F.D. Young’s Knowledge and Control (1977), Basil Bernstein and Pierre Bourdieu became the
intellectual leaders of the new sociology aimed at analyzing social class inequalities in education.
Geoff Whitty writes of Bernstein,
“The sociologist whose work, in my view, remains most helpful in thinking through
the relationship between social class and school knowledge is Bernstein, who
remained the dominant presence within the sociology of education in the UK until his
death in 2000 and indeed beyond. He died just three weeks into my Directorship of the
Institute and both the Institute and the field knew they had lost their greatest
contemporary scholar. (Power et al., 2001)”
Of course, inspiration for the current leaders in the sociology of education was not limited to the
“holy trinity” of Durkheim, Weber, and Marx or the handful of other scholars noted above. As
you will access other different sources, you will find that the current leaders in the field have
found inspiration in countless places, both expected and unexpected, from within the field and
outside of the field, and from scholarship as well as life experience. Undoubtedly, the lives of the
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current leaders and some of the common themes that emerge from their stories help illuminate
how the field has come to take its current form.
3. RELATIONS OF SOCIOLOGY AND EDUCATION
Sociology and Education are two branches of knowledge, concerned essentially with man and his
life. Relationship between sociology and education has always been a subject of debate.
Education and sociology are mutually interrelated and interdependent disciplines. They are so
closely intertwined and interconnected that their subject matter and method of study are often
overlapped to a great extend. All societies have their own ways and means of meeting this need.
Education as a process has come to stay as an effective means of meeting this need. Education
does not only transmit the past cultural heritage, it is meant to help in the reconstruction of our
modes of living. It may help in developing new social patterns in the areas of health, leisure,
vocation and family life. Reconstruction and adaptation are necessary but of scientific
developments, industrialization and technological advancements, which are disturbing the urban
as well as rural pattern of living. The relationship of education and sociology can be cleared
through following points.

Sociology is the science of society and education in an implicit aspect of any social
system.

Sociology studies the structure and functions of social system, while education is one of
the important functions of any social system.

The prime concern of sociology is socialized individuals. Education is the means for
achieving the goals of sociology.

Education is the laboratory and workshop of sociology

Sociology attempts to ascertain the functions performed by the educational system while
education adopts the principles of sociology to improve its functioning.
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
In the modern society, sociology generates the data base which is consumed by
educational system to realize the goal of social life.

Sociology develops the law and principles which are adopted by the educational system
for its improvement.

Education preserves the social and cultural heritage which is owned by sociology.

Society is the prime factor in determining the educational patterns so that its sociocultural needs may be satisfied and continues to grow.
4. RELATIONS OF SOCIOLOGY AND OTHER SOCIAL SCIENCES
Sociology is only one of a number of interrelated ways of attempting to understand and account
for human behavior. Earlier attempts were mostly humanistic; that is, they were not guided by
the principles of scientific methodology. Because they are predicated on relatively rigorous
procedures for the gathering and assessment of empirical information, the social sciences provide
a more satisfactory way to understand the causes of human behavior than do humanistic
approaches, although the value of insights obtained through nonscientific methods should never
be underestimated. Often such insights provide the starting point for scientific explorations.
Sociology is only one of a family of related social sciences. The following discussion
examines the character of these other disciplines and explores sociology’s relationship with each
of them.
Psychology shares with sociology (and cultural anthropology) a broadly-based interest in
understanding a wide variety of human behavior; the disciplines differ from each other in that
psychology is principally concerned with the behavior of individuals, while sociologists more
commonly study group behavior and the extent to which group membership (including factors
such as race, class, and gender) influences individual behavior.
Psychology has both academic and applied branches. Applied psychology is a therapeutic
effort to help people understand their own behavior and cope with their problems. Academic
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psychology is closer to the mainstream of sociology, placing its central emphasis on
understanding such phenomena as learning, thinking, personality formation and functioning,
intelligence, memory, and motivation. Academic psychology grew out of biology and is still
strongly oriented toward experimental research. Some academic psychologists conduct research
into animal behavior and the physiology of the brain, which is sharply distinct from sociological
work; others concern themselves with very much the same sort of questions as those that interest
sociologists, although always with special emphasis on individual behavior. The two fields meet
in the subdiscipline of social psychology, which is commonly taught in both psychology and
sociology curricula and which focuses on how human personality and behavior are influenced by
an individual’s social environment.
Anthropology, like psychology, has some concerns it shares with sociology but also
studies some very different subjects. The two main subfields are physical anthropology and
cultural anthropology, although some attention is also devoted to archeology and linguistics.
Physical anthropology uses natural science research methods to study such topics as the
biological evolution of the human race and the differences between the races. Cultural
anthropologists study many of the same topics as sociologists, but there are two main differences
between the fields:
(1) anthropology tends to study small, preliterate, traditional societies, whereas most sociologists
concentrate on modern industrial societies; (2) anthropology generally studies cultures as a
whole, while sociology commonly studies smaller systems (for example, groups or institutions)
within complex societies. However, sociology and cultural anthropology are closer than the other
social sciences. Furthermore, as the traditional societies that anthropologists have historically
preferred to study have become increasingly scarce, more and more cultural anthropologists are
studying such aspects of contemporary society as street gangs, immigrant life, and ethnic
subcultures, which are indistinguishable from the subject matter usually studied by sociologists.
Cultural anthropologists and sociologists use similar research methods, although anthropologists
are more likely to develop elaborate descriptive ethnographies of the social scenes they observe
by means of extended periods of participant observation, whereas sociologists more commonly
collect narrower and more quantitative data using survey research methods.
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Economics is a much more narrow and focused discipline than sociology, psychology, or
anthropology, concerning itself with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and
services. Because economists restrict their attention to phenomena that can be precisely
measured, such as interest rates, taxes, economic production rates, and unemployment, they have
developed by far the most sophisticated statistical techniques for manipulating and presenting
data of any of the social sciences. On the other hand, this precision may limit the ability of
economists to deal effectively with the sorts of larger issues that many people find most
interesting and important. Sociologists who study economic behavior, in contrast to economists,
focus on the relationship between economics and other aspects of social reality—for example, on
the way in which value orientations (such as support for the environmental movement) may
affect consumption patterns, on the ways in which corporations are organized and changed, or on
how human beings experience the world of work subjectively.
Political science, like economics, focuses on a relatively narrow segment of human
social behavior, in this case the issues of power and authority. Traditionally, political science
focused either on political philosophy or on relatively limited studies of the ways in which
governments and political parties are organized and function. More recently, under the influence
of the developing field of political sociology, political scientists have been increasingly
interested in such topics as political socialization, the social forces influencing voting behavior,
the structure of institutional and noninstitutional power in local communities, and the origin and
development of movements of political protest, all of which are shared concerns with
sociologists working in this area. The two disciplines use broadly similar research methods, with
political scientists having played an especially important role in the development of opinion
polling and related techniques of survey research.
Two additional disciplines deserve mention, though each is only marginally compatible
with the basic definition of a social science.
History straddles the line between the humanities and the social sciences. Traditionally
the field studied historical developments as unique events, not as examples of general categories
or patterns. More recently, however, many historians have become more interested in the social
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forces that shape historical events and in developing theories of broad patterns of sociohistorical
change; they also have begun using more quantitative and precise data. To the extent that these
trends continue, history is moving in the direction of becoming a true social science.
Social work is comparable to applied psychology in that its central purpose is not to
understand human behavior but rather to help people, groups, and communities cope more
effectively with their personal and social problems. Of course, it is essential to understand the
causes of these problems, and social workers rely heavily on sociological and psychological
research and theory, but the fundamental thrust of the field is different from that of sociology and
academic psychology because of its practical orientation.
5. BRANCHES OF SOCIOLOGY
The main branches of sociology are difficult to determine as it encompasses the study of almost
every aspect of human life. However, there are some general branches which can be divided up
into their constituent parts. Sociology is a social science which seeks to discover how human
behaviour and interactions affect society as a whole. However, even this definition brings up
questions such as, what is society? This is why one, wants to answer the question: “What are
the main branches of sociology?” It will work as an introduction into how empirical
investigation and critical analysis has formed sociology as a whole.
Main branches of sociology according to Émile Durkheim
While we are all individuals, we don't exist in a vacuum. Even a recluse is so because they reject
society and do so as a reaction against it. If we never had to interact with anybody else, we
would be free of many of the moral and practical problems our world faces. It would also be
lonely and perhaps a life not worth living.
While philosophy and sociology have many correlations, there is a key difference. This key
difference is something called empiricism. Empiricism means understanding drawn from sensory
experience, i.e. it has to be proved as best it can from physical evidence. Philosophy tries to
understand morality as a whole. While this involves social interaction, the ideas can come from
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anywhere. Positivism has many correlations to empiricism, as it entails how we can discern
knowledge from the natural phenomena around us.
This is why sociology is so important. It helps us to understand the actuality of how we interact.
This is not to say that philosophy does not have practical implications, not to mention how
enjoyable it can be.
Émile Durkheim was a French sociologist often referred to as the father of sociology. His
intention of making sociology an academic discipline in order for it to benefit society in a
practical way. Much of Durkheim's work was focused on how societies could maintain
coherence and integrity when tradition and religion ties are no longer important. It is not a
coincidence that sociology developed after the wake of The Origin of the Species, Charles
Darwin's seminal work which called into question how many of us viewed the world.
Durkheim sought to answer questions which society elicits, but which could not be explained by
philosophy or even psychology. In his attempts to make sociology an academic discipline, he
was trying to react to the many seismic changes occurring around him - loss of religion,
industrial revolution and more. While sociology can become very complicated, it began as a way
to help understand the world better.
According to Durkheim, sociology was divided into three main branches:
Social morphology
This branch studies geographical aspects of society, such as how density of population affects
society.
Social physiology
Social physiology studies the influence of religion, law, economy and other aspects on society.
General sociology
The philosophical part of sociology, as it discovers social laws from social associations.
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Nowadays there are many other branches of sociology due to the evolution of societies and the
relations with the environment. However, much of what Durkheim had discussed in his works
are still relevant today such as the theory of a collective consciousness. As previously said,
sociology is a very broad science and new branches emerge day by day. Listed below are some
of the most important, depending on the basis of their content.
Historical sociology
Historical sociology is one of the main branches of modern sociology and it studies
the background of social events. In a sense, all sociological research is historical, given that
sociologists dig into the past of societies and behaviors to study them. However, historical
sociology specifically studies the history of human relations, how and when different groups and
societies originated...
Sociology of knowledge
This branch of sociology believes that our knowledge is a social product. What this branch tries
to show is that all the things we know come predetermined by social phenomena and social
relations.
Criminology
Another important branch of sociology in our everyday lives, criminology studies the criminal
behavior of individuals or groups. Take a look at how to get into criminology if you're
interested in this field.
Political sociology
This branch of sociology is also widely useful for today's societies as it studies
the interrelationship between society and politics. Other topics of study within this branch are the
origin of different political views and the relation between social structures and political
institutions.
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Human ecology
Ecology is a branch of biology that studies the relation between organisms and their
environment. However, it can also be applied to sociology if studied with humans. Human
ecology in this case studies the relations of humans with their natural, social and built
environment. Therefore, it studies the natural living environment of humans.
Other branches of sociology
Sociology is a very varied social science that studies many aspects of society. Besides the
previously mentioned, these are some of the other important topics of study:

Rural sociology: it studies societies in rural areas.

Urban sociology: it studies societies in cities and other urban areas.

Sociology of demography: studies the distribution of human populations.

Economic sociology: it studies economic phenomena.

Sociology of culture: it studies the meaning of culture inside a specific society
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6. SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES
Introduction
6.1.
Theory means different things to different people. It could be defined as a conceptual scheme
designed to explain observed regularities or relationships between two or more variables.
Theoretical perspectives are used to provide logical explanation for why things happen the way
they do. There are always various interpretations of events in our everyday life. Similarly there
are several sociological perspectives on why things happen the way they do in society. These
theories result in different interpretations of the same information because they focus on different
aspects.
In the behavioural sciences, no theory is absolutely true. No theory is a final formulation because
new knowledge keeps on modifying or even repudiates existing theories. A theory is not judged
productive solely in terms of the answers it gives; but equally in the number of questions it
raises.
We are going to take a look at the key aspects of the following theories which have made major
contribution to the field of sociology of education:
a) Functionalism
b) Conflict theory
c) Critical theory
d) Interpretive
6.2.
Functionalism
One of the core perspectives of sociology is functionalism, consensus or equilibrium theory. A
sociologist using this approach assumes that in society everything (even crime), no matter how
seemingly strange, out of place, or harmful, serves a purpose.
Functionalism views society as a self-regulating system of interrelated elements with
structured social relationships and observed regularities.
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Emile Durkheim (1858-1917), is considered to be the first person to recommend that a
sociological approach be used in the study of education. He said that society can survive only if
there exists among its members a sufficient degree of homogeneity. Education perpetuates and
reinforces this homogeneity by fixing in the child, from the beginning, the essential similarities
that collective life demands.

Durkheim attempted to understand why education took the forms it did, rather than judge
those forms.

He points out that, ―Education is the influence exercised by adult generations on those that
are not yet ready for social life. Its object is to arouse and to develop in the child a certain
number of physical, intellectual and moral states which are demanded of him by both the
political society as a whole and the special milieu for which he is specifically destined----.

Durkheim observed that education takes different forms at different times and places
showing that we cannot separate the educational system from the society for they reflect each
other.

He stressed that in every time and place education is closely related to other institutions and
to current values and beliefs.

Durkheim outlined his beliefs about the functions of schools and their relationship to society.

Durkheim argued that education has many functions:
1. To reinforce social solidarity
 History: Learning about individuals who have done good things for the many makes an
individual feel insignificant.
 Pledging allegiance: Makes individuals feel part of a group and therefore less likely to
break rules.
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2. To maintain social role: School is a society in miniature. It has a similar hierarchy,
rules, and expectations to the "outside world." It trains young people to fulfil roles.
3. To maintain division of labour: School sorts students into skill groups, encouraging
students to take up employment in fields best suited to their abilities.

According to him, moral values are the foundations of the social order and society is
perpetuated through its educational institutions.

Any change in society reflects a change in education and vice versa. In fact education plays
an active role in the process of change.

Durkheim was interested in the way that education could be used to provide French citizens
the sort of shared, secular background that would be necessary to prevent anomie in modern
societies. He equated classrooms to ‗small societies‘or agents of socialization.

The school acts as an intermediary between the affective morality of the family and the
rigorous morality of the life in society.

Durkheim spoke about issues which are real even today- the needs of different segments of
society with respect to education, discipline in schools, the role of schools in preparing young
people for society, the relationship of education to social change, cross-cultural research and
the social system of school and classroom.
6.3.
Conflict Theory
The perspective of conflict theory, contrary to the structural functionalist perspective, believes
that society is full of social groups with different aspirations, different access to life chances and
gain different social rewards. Relations in society, in this view, are mainly based on exploitation,
oppression, domination and subordination.
The several social theories that emphasize social conflict have roots in the ideas of Karl Marx
(1818-1883), the great German theorist and political activist. The Marxist conflict approach
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emphasizes a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical method of analysis, a critical
stance toward existing social arrangements, and a political program of revolution or, at least,
reform.
Conflict theories draw attention to power differentials, such as class conflict, and generally
contrast traditional or historically-dominant ideologies. Conflict theory is most commonly
associated with Marxism, but as a reaction to functionalism and positivist methods may also be
associated with critical theory, feminist theory, queer theory, postmodern theory, post-structural
theory, postcolonial theory, and a variety of other perspectives.
Some conflict theorists like Max Weber (1864-1920) believe education is controlled by the state
which is controlled by the powerful, and its purpose is to reproduce existing inequalities, as well
as legitimize “acceptable” ideas which actually work to reinforce the privileged positions of the
dominant group. Connell and White state that the education system is as much an arbiter of
social privilege as a transmitter of knowledge.

Education achieves its purpose by maintaining the status quo, where lower-class children
become lower class adults, and middle and upper class children become middle and
upper-class adults.

McLeod argues that teachers treat lower-class kids like less competent students, placing
them in lower tracks because they have generally had fewer opportunities to develop
language, critical thinking, and social skills prior to entering school than middle and
upper class kids.

When placed in lower tracks, lower-class kids are trained for blue-collar jobs by an
emphasis on obedience and following rules rather than autonomy, higher-order thinking,
and self-expression.

They point out that while private schools are expensive and generally reserved for the
upper classes, public schools- like Municipal schools, especially those that serve the
poor, are under - funded, understaffed, and growing worse.
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
Schools are also powerful agents of socialization that can be used as tools for one group
to exert power over others – for example, by demanding that all students learn English,
schools are ensuring that English-speakers dominate students from non-English speaking
backgrounds

This cycle occurs because the dominant group has, over time, closely aligned education
with middle class values and aims, thus alienating people of other classes.

Many teachers assume that students will have particular middle class experiences at
home, and for some children this assumption isn‘t necessarily true. Some children are
expected to help their parents after school and carry considerable domestic
responsibilities in their often single-parent home.

The demands of this domestic labour often make it difficult for them to find time to do all
their homework and this affects their academic performance.

Where teachers have softened the formality of regular study and integrated student‘s
preferred working methods into the curriculum, they noted that particular students
displayed strengths they had not been aware of before.

However few teacher deviate from the traditional curriculum and the curriculum conveys
what constitutes knowledge as determined by the state - and those in power. This
knowledge isn‘t very meaningful to many of the students, who see it as pointless.

Wilson & Wyn state that the students realise there is little or no direct link between the
subjects they are doing and their perceived future in the labour market.

Anti-school values displayed by these children are often derived from their consciousness
of their real interests.

Sargent believes that for working class students, striving to succeed and absorbing the
school's middle class values, is accepting their inferior social position as much as if they
were determined to fail.
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
Fitzgerald states that ―irrespective of their academic ability or desire to learn, students
from poor families have relatively little chance of securing success‖.

On the other hand, for middle and especially upper-class children, maintaining their
superior position in society requires little effort. The federal government subsidises
“independent” private schools enabling the rich to obtain ‘good education’ by paying for
it.

With this ‘good education’, rich children perform better, achieve higher and obtain
greater rewards. In this way, the continuation of privilege and wealth for the elite is made
possible.

Conflict theorists believe this social reproduction continues to occur because the whole
education system is overlain with ideology provided by the dominant group.

In effect, they perpetuate the myth that education is available to all to provide a means of
achieving wealth and status. Anyone who fails to achieve this goal, according to the
myth, has only themselves to blame.

Wright agrees, stating that ―the effect of the myth is to…stop them from seeing that
their personal troubles are part of major social issues‖. The duplicity is so successful that
many parents endure appalling jobs for many years, believing that this sacrifice will
enable their children to have opportunities in life that they did not have themselves.

These people who are poor and disadvantaged are victims of a societal confidence trick.
They have been encouraged to believe that a major goal of schooling is to strengthen
equality while, in reality, schools reflect society‘s intention to maintain the previous
unequal distribution of status and power
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6.4.
Critical theory
A group of intellectuals whose roots can be traced to the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory and
to Marxist and neo-Marxist theoreticians has appropriated the concept of “critical perspectives”
in the field of education (Pinar and Bowers, 1992).
Critical theory came out during 1920s in Germany with the foundation of Institute for Social
Research at Frankfurt. The works of the Institute have been emerged primarily as a Marxist
critique of capitalist society, as well as challenging the traditions of modernity as the major
product of capitalism. In this sense, they developed theories of consumerism and culture, science
and technology as new forms of social control and by products of modernity.
The term “critical theory” has been coined by Horkheimer who became the director of institute at
1930 in order to define the theoretical agenda of Frankfurt School. On the other hand, while
recognizing historical contribution of Frankfurt School, we should aware the wider tradition of
critical philosophy, “stretching back to Kant and Hegel, and in sociology to Weber, and also the
ways in which the term has recently been appropriated to apply aspects of contemporary
thought…structuralism, semiotics, and poststructralism”. (Peters, 2003, 5) What makes critical
theory different than other mainstream theories according to Kellner (1989) “Critical theory is
distinguished from traditional mainstream social science through its multidisciplinary
perspectives and its attempts to develop a dialectical and material social theory (Kellner, 1989,
quoted in Peters, et al, 8)”
Critical theories have three major concerns: mapping injustices in education, tracing those
injustices to their source, seeking and proposing remedies to those injustices. They began to
work by defining inequalities in education. Working class kids or certain minority groups have
been stayed at the center of discussions because of their relatively low performance in education
in comparison to their white middle or upper class counterparts. (Gibson, 1986).
During 1960s fueled with the social movements, in the form of “Marxist conflict” theories, they
challenge the liberal theorizations of structural-functionalist approach in education, later on they
evolved through reproduction to resistance theories in following years (Karabel & Halsey, 1977)
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A group of educational researchers in England in 1970s claimed that the relationship among
social structures, power, and schooling practices should be central to the work of sociology of
education. The earliest manifestation of this understanding has been thrown up in Michael F.D.
Youngs’ edited book Knowledge and Control. (Karabel & Halsey, 1977; Sarup, 1978) Young
argued that it has not been questioned by sociology of education that “what counts as educational
knowledge” (Ladwig,1996, 16). In this regard, they criticized structural-functionalist view of
education and promoted necessity of “phenomenological” agenda what has later been named as
“interpretivist” view in sociology of education. (Karabel and Halsey, 1977; Ladwig, 1996;
Davies, 1995) Jean Anyon, Michael Apple and Henry Giroux in the United States marked the
beginning of new sociology of education. Young’s (1971) book is considered as the germinal
book in the field of the sociology of curriculum.
After, according to Apple (2000, 75) most of critical analysis in education focused on three
major issues; “the debate over functionalism and economic reductionism or over what is called
the base/superstructure issue; secondly closely related arguments between structuralists and
culturalists in education; finally class reductionism.”
6.5.
Interpretive theory
Interpretive sociology is an approach developed by Max Weber that centres on the importance of
meaning and action when studying social trends and problems. This approach diverges from
positivistic sociology by recognizing that the subjective experiences, beliefs, and behaviour of
people are equally important to study as are observable, objective facts.
Interpretive sociology was developed and popularized by Prussian founding figure of the
field Max Weber. This theoretical approach and the research methods that go with it is rooted in
the German word verstehen, which means "to understand," in particular to have a meaningful
understanding of something. To practice interpretive sociology is to attempt to understand social
phenomena from the standpoint of those involved in it. It is, so to speak, to attempt to walk in
someone else's shoes and see the world as they see it. Interpretive sociology is, thus, focused on
understanding the meaning that those studied give to their beliefs, values, actions, behaviors, and
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social relationships with people and institutions. Georg Simmel, a contemporary of Weber, is
also recognized as a major developer of interpretive sociology.
This approach to producing theory and research encourages sociologists to view those studied as
thinking and feeling subjects as opposed to objects of scientific research. Weber developed
interpretive sociology because he saw a deficiency in the positivistic sociology pioneered
byFrench founding figure Émile Durkheim. Durkheim worked to make sociology be seen as a
science by centering empirical, quantitative data as its practice. However, Weber and Simmel
recognized that the positivistic approach is not able to capture all social phenomena, nor is it able
to fully explain why all social phenomena occur or what is important to understand about them.
This approach focuses on objects (data) whereas interpretive sociologists focus on subjects
(people).
7. SOCIALIZATION AS A PROCESS
7.1.
Introduction
The human infant comes into the world as biological organism with animal needs and is
gradually moulded into a social being and it learns social ways of acting and feeling. Without
this process of moulding, the society could not continue itself, nor could culture exist, nor could
individual become a person. This process of moulding is called “Socialisation”. The process of
socialisation is conditioned by culture. In this unit, we will basically deal with the concept and
process of socialisation and different types of social interaction.
7.2.
Meaning of socialisation
Socialisation is a process of making an individual social. In other words, socialisation is a
process through which society develops an individual according to its ideals, beliefs and
traditions and bestows recognition as social being. In short, the basis of socialisation is
interaction. In other words, socialisation refers to the process through which an individual
interacts with other individuals and learns social ideals, attitudes and patterns of behaviour. The
individual, inspired by the ideals of social service and social welfare through interaction, adjusts
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well with his or her family, neighbours and other social groups so that he himself becomes a true
social being in the real sense of the term. In this way, the whole process of socialisation falls
within the scope of interaction or social act.
7.3.
Process of socialisation
The social order is maintained largely by socialisation. Unless the individuals behave in
accordance with the norms of the group it is going to disintegrate. It is said that socialisation
process starts long before the child is born. The social circumstances preceding his birth
determines extent the kind of life he is to lead to a great extent. The parents’ courtship, and
marital selection, the customs concerning pregnancy and birth and the entire system of cultural
practices surrounding the family are important for the child’s growth. The techniques of parental
care affect his chances of being healthy. Of course, direct socialisation begins only after birth.
As discussed above the process of socialisation makes a child social in his or her interactions.
Among the various factors which play a vital role in this process, the following are the prominent
ones:
Child Rearing: The upbringing of a child plays a significant role in the socialisation of a
child. Parenting or the ways in which parents bring up the child and the environment in
which the child grows up determines the feelings and experiences that develop in the child. It
means that improper upbringing of a child leads to the growth of antisocial tendencies in him
because of mal-adjustment. Hence, for effective socialisation, healthy and proper upbringing
is essential.

Sympathy: Similar to one’s upbringing, sympathy also plays an important role in the
socialisation of a child. It may be noted that during infancy, a child is fully dependent on his
family for the fulfilment of all his needs and requirements. Not only fulfilling their needs is
sufficient, others should also show full and genuine sympathy towards the child. It is
sympathy which develops the sense of we-feeling in the child and he or she learns to
discriminate between his or her real well-wishers and other members of society.
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
Co-operation: Society makes the child social. In other words, the cooperation of society
plays an important part in socialising the child. As the child receives co-operation of others
towards him, he also begins to extend his hearty co-operation towards other members of
society. This strengthens his social tendencies.

Suggestion: Social suggestion powerfully influences the socialisation of a child. It is a
natural fact that a child acts according to the suggestion received from his well-wishers. Thus
suggestion determines the direction of social behaviour.

Identification: Sympathy, love and suggestion of parents, relations and well-wishers develop
a feeling of identification with others in the child. Those who behave with the child
sympathetically, the child considering them as his well-wishers, begins to act according to
their ideals, language and standard of living.

Imitation: The basic factor in socialisation is the process of imitation. This is the most potent
way of learning by a child. He or she imitates the behaviour, impulses and feelings of his or
her family members. In this way, learning by imitation is the most powerful means of
socialising a child.

Social Teaching: Besides imitation, social teaching also influences the socialisation of a
child. It may be noted that social teaching takes place in the family, among friends and
relations who guide the child in one way or the other.

Reward and Punishment: Reward and punishment have a great influence on the
socialisation of a child. When a child behaves according to the ideals and beliefs of society,
people appreciate and approve his behaviour. On the contrary when he does some anti-social
act, he or she is criticised and condemned by society. This type of punishment means the
child is away from unsocial activities leading him or her towards proper socialisation.
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7.4.
Modes of socialisation
Basically, there are two modes or forms of Socialisation namely, formal and informal
socialization. In order to ensure that socialization actually takes place, you use both negative and
positive sanctions as stated above in the process. Negative sanctions are punishments while
positive sanctions are rewards, like praises you give to a student who give a correct answer to
your question. But some scholars like Claude DUBAR even E. DURKHEIM distinguish 3 types
of socialisation namely primary, secondary and differential socialization.
7.4.1. Formal Socialization
This takes place when the context of socialization is structured. In this context a good example
of formal socialization is the classroom teaching. When you are teaching in the classroom, you
impart skills, values, ideas, morals and roles into the learners. You are formally socialising the
students because the manner in which you do the socialisation in the classroom is structured. The
content of your teaching, for instance, is controlled by the curriculum.
7.4.2. Informal Socialization
Refers to the process where individuals learn the skills, morals, values, ideas and habits of the
society through interaction with other people. It is characterized by unconscious learning.
Learning is not structured as in the case of formal socialization. Examples of informal
socialization include: family socialization process, peer group socialization and community
socialization. Differential socialization happens while operating a clear choice in our daily
endeavors just to cope with our own talents and beliefs such being a movie star, footballer,
musician or politician etc…to integrate within a society.
8. AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION
8.1.
Introduction
The survival of any society depends solidly on the sufficient degree of homogeneity amongst its
members. Socialization perpetuates and reinforces this homogeneity by fixing in the child from
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the beginning the essential similarities that collective life demands.
These essential life
ingredients are transmitted through the family, school, mosque/church, peer group, market, mass
media and so forth. For this session we shall only tackle on the family and school as socializing
agents.
8.2.
School as a socialising agent
The school, through formal teaching in the classroom provides the child with basic intellectual
skills as well as the highly sophisticated skills including communication skills. Through the
school curriculum, the socialisees (pupils) learn History, Science, Geography and the Culture of
the society. Through direct teaching, the school imparts vocational skills to the learners.
The teacher in school plays the role of a counselor and, therefore, enables learners to acquire
social skills and moral values of the society so that they can fit and live responsibly in society.
Informally, school is able to play the socializing role because it has adults (the teaching and nonteaching staff) who act as monitors for the pupils or students. The way a teacher conducts
himself/herself influences the behaviour of the children under his/her care. Since the teachers as
adults are more socialized than children, they are considered suitable to socialize the young
members of the society to the needs of the adult world.
The teacher of a modern School has to play a very important role. Acquisition of values goes on
constantly in the School and outside through many different activities like instruction,
relationship with pupils, co-curricular activities etc. Values are also transmitted through general
tone of the School and the prescribed syllabus. A teacher should remember some principles for
this:-1. He/ She should help to create an atmosphere of love trust and security in the School.
2. He/she should have knowledge of child development and its development
characteristics and adopt methods accordingly.
3. He should organize value education indirectly through different co-curricular
activities.
4. Teacher should develop his personality to influence his students.
5. Teacher should be honest in his dealings with the students
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6. Teacher should develop national deliberation and thought among the students.
8.3.
Family
In most circumstances, the family is the key socializing agent. It is the most crucial socialization
agent in a primeval society. The human concept of a family is a group of persons who are linked
together by resemblance, consanguinity, and co-residence. In many communities, it is the
principal agent for children socialization
The family marks the start of socialization for most people. It assists young ones assimilate their
culture and identify with their community. The family also gives the young members their social
status. It plays a prominent role in teaching these members of society about the dangers and
effects of early sex. Young members of the society usually socialize with their relatives by
learning their routines and establishing signals for their wants (Mitchell 296).
The family as an agent of socialization is seen in the fact that the young grow in a vicious
association, wherein they are taught to love people who strike and subjugate them. The family
thus comprises the initial cell of the society. Children start to watch their parents and siblings for
satisfactory ways to intermingle socially, and this remains as a physically powerful influence in
their lives.
9. ROLE OF POLITICS AND NATION AND THEIR RELATIONS TO
SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION (to be discussed in classroom)
9.1. Introduction
The relationship between politics and education is intimate as is evidenced form the students
wings of the political parties that operate in the colleges and the universities. All Educational
policies and programmes are for the spread of ideology of socialism. It is the extent to which
groups outside the education system direct or control the process of education. The degree of
politicization depends upon the effectiveness and the extent of control the people outside the
school have on the conduct of education.
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9.2. Political Influence on Education
1. Deciding who receives how much schooling of what type and of what quality.
2. Influencing the content of education viz. what is taught, by what methods and how it is
assessed.
3. Influencing decisions like to what extent the schools staff members and students should
be allowed to take part in whatever political and social behaviour they choose
9.3. Educational Influence on Politics
Education influences politics in seven such functions, which the educational system performs.
These are:
1. Political socialization also called citizenship training.
2. Political legitimization
3. Man, Power, Production
4. Sorting of personnel for the power hierarch.
5. Social Assessment and Interpretation
6. Social Control
7. Stimulation of social change
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